³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house.

Prisca and Aquila are second on the list of people to whom Paul sends his greetings. They were significant characters in the story of the early church at Corinth and Ephesus. They very possibly heard the first preaching of the Gospel by the apostles in Jerusalem at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Their hometown was Pontus, one of 15 named towns or areas those initial hearers were from. Persecution scattered those early believers, with some ending up apparently in Rome. Being part of that “diaspora” would fit with the other known facts we have about this couple. We do know they were forced to leave Rome under the persecution of Emperor Claudius and subsequently landed in Corinth (Acts 18:1-2, 1 Cor 16:19). In Corinth, they met the apostle Paul through their common occupation of being tent makers (Acts 18:3) and sat under his powerful apologetics in the synagogue there. When Silas and Timothy joined them, Paul commenced his concentrated teaching of the Word.

By this time, Prisca and Aquila had become familiar with persecution, so one can imagine took the resistance to the Gospel by their fellow Jews (Acts 18:6). They saw Paul’s “modus operandi” (MO) of first preaching to the Jews (Rom 1:16) and then to the Gentiles, where in Corinth the latter converted in large numbers (Acts 18:8). They served together with Paul in the Gospel work for 18 months (Acts 18:11).

Following further persecution, they all left for Ephesus by way of Cenchrea, from where Phoebe hailed (Rom 16:1). Paul soon left Ephesus for Antioch, from where he was commissioned to his mission work, but Prisca and Aquila remained in Ephesus. Clearly, they had become well-versed in the Gospel and the new way of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. When a man named Apollos, who “was mighty in the Scriptures,” came to Ephesus and spoke eloquently, this couple filled in the blanks of his message (Acts 18:24-28). Under their tutelage Apollos went on to “powerfully refute the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” Eventually, they found their way back to Rome, as evidenced by this greeting from Paul.

This couple risked their lives for Paul, and he did not forget it. In fact, there were many Gentile converts who were thankful for them. And we see their continued devotion to the Lord: they had a church meeting in their home!

Lord, thank You for those people who sacrifice greatly teaching Your Word.